[Xsabresx]

Wednesday - as part of the Texas Protection Plan upgrade every two years pilot (or whatever it is called) - I ordered a 3rd DVR ($0.00 total cost).

Today an HR21-100 shows up. The DVR is in pristine condition so while it would have been nice to get an HR24, the HR21 looks brand new and works beautifully.

I open the box and there is no remote. I call customer service and of course there is no option for my particular issue so I just said "representative" until I got someone. I get Philippines. He immediately tells me he has to transfer me to Protection Plan. (huh?) Call drops so I call back and since this dude says I have to talk to PP that is what I ask for. I get Jamie in Utah (she said she was in Jazz country). I tell Jamie that this DVR is missing a remote. "No problem" she says and places me on hold for 5 minutes. She comes back and says "ok we can get that remote right out to you for $15.00". I told Jamie that I just ordered and received this and it is missing the remote. She places me on hold again for 5 minutes. She comes back and says that they can waive the charge. (interesting side note - I said "protection Plan" at the prompts and yet Jamie says she is in Billing)

I get done with Jamie and she activates the receiver since I have her on line. Everything is great...

...so I thought.

This HR21 isnt seeing my other DVRs. I reset everything and still nothing (tech savvy posters know where this is going)

I call back and get Ebony. I tell Ebony what's happening and suggest that I am missing a Deca module. She says hang on because not all receivers need them (come on I dont work there and I know better). She has me reset everything again and waits while everything comes up. Sure enough, no WHDVR. She says she has to transfer me to tech support.

I get Matt in Tech Support. Mat tells me "hang on because not all receivers need them" (maybe I am not as smart as I think I am). He comes back and says "oh yeah you are missing a Deca module. Did you order this from an online retailer?". I said "yeah Directv.com" He said "since you should have gotten one and didnt we'll be sending you one out at no cost"

WHEW!!!!!

90 minutes total phone time.

My biggest issue with this entire transaction was the hold time and just overall bad info. I tell Jamie that I didnt get a remote and the first words out of her mouth is $15.00. I tell Ebony I am missing the Deca module and she has me reboot EVERYTHING? Every question/comment out of my mouth was answered with "can you hold?" It was like I hit every rookie CSR on duty today.

Anyway, this will be too long for most people to be bothered with lol but at least I vented.

 

[sigma1914]

They don't know you're not an average customer - they have to follow the script.

 

[Xsabresx]

I get that, but I said "I didnt get the remote" why do you come back with "that'll be $15". I said "I didnt get a Deca module". Wouldnt that be a huge red flag?

To me that is like saying "the sky is blue" and they tell me "look up and tell me what color the sky is"

 

[trh]

I also had an interesting call with a CSR today.

She was trying to sell me a Genie. Going through the script -- and it might have been the first time she read it. I told here I was familiar with the 34 and wasn't that interested in it. She kept going. I told her "No, everything is working fine and unless you want to give me one for free, I'm not interested in one." Not free, but she kept going.

Then she looked at my equipment. She said that I should replace my HR20 with the 34 because "then you'll have whole home on all your TVs" (I have 1 HR20, 1 HR21, 1 HR22, 2 HR24 and 1 H25).

"But I already have MRV with all my boxes."

"No Mr. H, the HR20 isn't compatible with whole home; it doesn't have the right connections."

"I can assure you that all six of my receivers are working fine on whole home and have been since it was installed last summer (2011)".

"Well, maybe they've added something to the 20's to make them compatible."

I usually get better CSRs. But she was able to check on something else for me and get me the correct answer.

 

[Xsabresx]

Maybe they are just getting slammed by all of the hurricane callers getting their credits. Today was an off day for everyone I spoke to.

 

[Shades228]

Was this replacing an existing receiver or being added as a new room?

 

[Tisby]

I'm rolling on at least one service call a week where equipment is dropped shipped and there's no DECA. Most customers aren't as informed as the people on here. However, I do enjoy making a precall and being told: "It'll pass IV, all I need is a DECA!"

 

[Xsabresx]

Was this replacing an existing receiver or being added as a new room?

In my case it was adding a new room.

 

[Xsabresx]

I'm rolling on at least one service call a week where equipment is dropped shipped and there's no DECA. Most customers aren't as informed as the people on here. However, I do enjoy making a precall and being told: "It'll pass IV, all I need is a DECA!"

One thing I noticed is that when you order a receiver online there is nowhere that mentions "if you have WHDVR you'll need this" or a spot where I can even choose it if I know ahead of time I need it. (never even thought about it)

 

[HarleyD]

When I called to activate my MRV I did a similar song and dance with CSRs who aren't necessarily as knowledgeable as the "enthusiasts" here.

First, I had rounded up all the equipment myself on eBay (SWM16, DECAs, Wireless CCK) and installed it all myself. I just needed them to turn it on. The CSR insisted that they needed to roll a truck and that professional installation was required. I pushed back and after being put on hold three times for about 5 minutes at a time while she spoke with her supervisor...who seemed equally stumped...she finally said she could activate it but that it wasn't going to work with my R22. Well I knew that was wrong but instead of just saying "uh huh, OK" I disputed it. Well after another 5 minutes or so of back and forth that got me transferred to tech support. The support agent also said MRV was not going to work with my R22, and I explained again that the R22, when activated on an account with HD service and at least two other MRV capable HD STBs, yada, yada, yada.

Finally he said he would activate MRV but that his documentation indicated that the R22 was not going to work with it and not to be surprised or angry when it happened. By this point I had figured out that the best response was "uh huh, OK".

Well of course once they enabled the service it came up and worked fine on the R22 as well as my three HD DVRs.

We really are a unique breed here though. For every one of us who are abnormally well versed in the products and the technology there are probably 100 subscribers who don't know any more than "point and shoot" with the remote control. The CSRs are trained to deal with those subscribers and are armed with scripts that tell them what to have the customers do in response to certain situations, what questions to ask and what they can or should do in response to certain answers and results.

Sometimes it sucks being outside the mainstream. I for one tend to thrive on it but it does have the occasional drawback.

EDIT to add: When I ordered one of my DVRs it was sent with no remote or cables. Just the box and the card. When I called about it I was told that since it was sent out as a "replacement" no remote was sent. Looking back I had indicated to the person I spoke with that I would be deactivating one of my old legacy RCAs when I got the HD DVR and they twisted that into it being a replacement. Never mind that the remote for a 10 year old RCA DRD420RE was never going to work with the DVR. But again, the CSRs are heavily scripted and act on what is repeatable. They're almost programmed more than they're trained sometimes. Some of them grow into the job an accumulate a pretty good body of knowledge and I've spoken to a few of them, but others...especially the newer ones...seem to be automatons.

 

[Xsabresx]

I found that to be frustrating from the get go. Everything is so menu/script driven that I really couldnt think of the department I needed to talk to to tell them I ordered a receiver and it came with no remote.

The DECA issue was the most frustrating. I told you I received no deca for this receiver. Why are you telling me to reboot? That doesnt make sense. It seems like they are being told "no matter what, stick to the script". Ask Gold Leader how that went. (stay on target)

 

[HarleyD]

Well, I've had CSRs tell me that they knew they were wasting my time but they had to do A, B and C before they could do what I wanted them to do.

Another thing to consider is that as long as it takes to reboot, the CSR is ensuring that they will be on the call with you for at least another ten minutes. Having worked on the phone sometimes it is preferable to prolong a call with someone who is at least pleasant and intelligent because the next guy may be angry, a moron, or an angry moron.

Maybe they just wanted to keep you around a little longer.

I found that to be frustrating from the get go. Everything is so menu/script driven that I really couldnt think of the department I needed to talk to to tell them I ordered a receiver and it came with no remote.

The DECA issue was the most frustrating. I told you I received no deca for this receiver. Why are you telling me to reboot? That doesnt make sense. It seems like they are being told "no matter what, stick to the script". Ask Gold Leader how that went. (stay on target)

 

[Shades228]

In my case it was adding a new room.

I found that to be frustrating from the get go. Everything is so menu/script driven that I really couldnt think of the department I needed to talk to to tell them I ordered a receiver and it came with no remote.

The DECA issue was the most frustrating. I told you I received no deca for this receiver. Why are you telling me to reboot? That doesnt make sense. It seems like they are being told "no matter what, stick to the script". Ask Gold Leader how that went. (stay on target)

This is exactly why HD DVR's are not to be drop shipped for new rooms. In fact the system won't allow it. It was selected as a replacement which is the only way it will drop ship and that usually only happens because of push back on the installation that the system requires them to place.

 

[Xsabresx]

I didnt select it as a replacement.

I logged into my account, clicked on "My Equipment" and then below that where it said "Add a Receiver" I chose an HD DVR, went to my cart and checked out. Somewhere along the way it said that this counted as my free upgrade every two years, but I thought it had been established already that adding a receiver was an upgrade.

Nowhere did it infer I was replacing one receiver with the other and in all of my conversations no one seemed to know why I didnt get a remote or a Deca to the point where Tech Support was surprised I ordered it from Directv and didnt get these things.

You can call that a training issue but I talked to 5 different people and they all agreed these things should have been received.

 

[sweep49]

Actually the HR24 has deca built in, so they were not wrong telling you that some models had it included.

 

[otaliema]

I didnt select it as a replacement.

Nowhere did it infer I was replacing one receiver with the other and in all of my conversations no one seemed to know why I didnt get a remote or a Deca to the point where Tech Support was surprised I ordered it from Directv and didnt get these things.

The way the system is built now if a unit is sent as a replacement accesorys, remotes decas and BBC are no longer included in the shipment unless the unit being replaced dosn't need/have thouse options.

As Shades mentined the system will not allow a drop ship addional room install. So some how the web page thought you where replacing one of your other units on the account. Say you have a H21 that the webpage thinks you where replacing, you wouldn't need a DECA or Remote cause you already have compatable ones at the house.

 

[Xsabresx]

Have to say I was impressed. The missing remote showed up today. Was not expecting it that fast at all.

 

[bobnielsen]

Have to say I was impressed. The missing remote showed up today. Was not expecting it that fast at all.

Directv tends to use FedEx next day air for everything.

 

[RACJ2]

Have to say I was impressed. The missing remote showed up today. Was not expecting it that fast at all.

Good to hear! Hopefully the $15 won't show up on your account, just as fast.

 

[Jacob Braun]

Redacted because apparently that is not in http://www.directv.com/dpp_terms/080312_DPP_TX_TERMS.pdf